Raiders Relish Challenge Of Moving Up

Competing In Class 3a With A Young Team Can't Keep St. Thomas From Eyeing 10th State Title In A Row.

September 3, 2003|By Sharon Robb Staff Writer

The St. Thomas Aquinas girls' team needs no added motivation when it comes to swimming fast.

However, the theme tossed around the Plantation Central Park pool deck during an afternoon practice, "Decade of Dominance," had a nice ring to it.

The talented and depth-laden girls' program is going after an unprecedented 10th consecutive state title. The challenge will be more formidable this season.

After finishing 9-1 and sweeping the district and state titles last season, St. Thomas moves from Class 2A to Class 3A, which features Cooper City, Coral Springs, Douglas and Taravella in District 7-3A and state powers Gainesville Buccholz, Lake Mary, Lake Brantley and Palm Bay.

"It's probably the toughest competition we are going to face going into Class 3A this year," said St. Thomas girls' coach Jimmy Parmenter, who begins his eighth year at the helm and is 96-1 in duel meets. "The Class 3A division is stronger than 2A. There are a lot of great teams and great swimmers. We welcome the challenge.

"It's definitely not going to be a walkover for the state championships. This will be the toughest one to win yet. Other schools know about us and will be gunning for us. It's probably going to come down to the divers and last relay."

The Raiders return the bulk of last year's team but don't have a strong incoming freshman class like years past.

"Divers are very important for us. It's like adding another event for free; like bonus points."

Parmenter had more than 100 swimmers come out for the team. The roster was pared to 67 after morning workouts started at the beginning of the season. Only the most dedicated and motivated swimmers are willing to wake up at 5 every morning to swim sets before a full day of classes, Parmenter said.

"If we had a weakness it would be the strength of our incoming class," Parmenter said. "We have the quality like past years [with the incoming class], we just don't have the numbers.

"It's just one of those years where you hit the cycle."

Another challenge facing St. Thomas and the rest of the teams in the county is the shorter season. State officials trimmed three weeks off the swim season to avoid overlapping with other sports.

The state meet is Oct. 30-Nov. 1 at the North County Aquatic Center in Sebastian. It was at the Fort Lauderdale Aquatic Complex the past two years.

"It's disappointing the season is so short," said Parmenter, whose team is one of the few affected because most of his swimmers train year-round in club programs. "Our club swimmers couldn't take a break. In the past we started working out Aug. 13 but started earlier because of the move."

The shortened season will hurt many of the high school teams that don't have year-round club swimmers from teams such as Plantation Swim Team, Fort Lauderdale Swim Team, Weston and Sunrise as St. Thomas does. Some high schools also don't begin practice until school starts.

"For those kids it will be hard to qualify for the state meet because they don't have the time to train," Parmenter said. "Without club swimmers, the sport would be very slow. Every year I thank the club coaches because they play a big role in high school swimming."

St. Thomas and several other schools are not competing in the National Spa and Pool Institute Swim Meet in Orlando this year, opting instead to go to the Woodson Invitational at Pine Crest.

"If the season had been longer we would have been able to do both meets; now we had to choose," Parmenter said. "It's going to be interesting to see where everyone is at the end of the short season."